Orange County Digest

Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : City May Become Part of an Insurance Pool

The city, which has been without liability insurance the past six months, is proceeding with plans to form an insurance pool with as many as 12 other cities.

The City Council voted Tuesday to spend $3,000 for costs involved in forming the pool, which could include Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Oxnard, Pasadena, Pomona, San Bernardino and Torrance.

Those cities are deciding this month whether to proceed with the pool, according to Alex Sanchez, a spokesman for the city. Other cities could be added, but the pool will not be formed with less than seven cities, or before July 1, Sanchez said.

Santa Ana's estimated annual premium in the pool would be about $590,000, and its deductible for each claim would be $1 million. Coverage would be up to $25 million.

The city's $45-million liability insurance policy expired June 30, and no company has offered to write a new policy since then.